Monkey Guards at Batu Caves

Yesterday we went to Batu Caves with a fellow backpacker Ryan (from Canada). We didn’t really make the early start that we had planned on, ended up leaving at 1pm!

We weren’t too sure what to expect from the Batu Caves except we read that there was a 272-step flight of stairs… oh oh and Monkey Guards to make sure that no one brought food & drinks into the caves! COOL!

We caught the 11D bus from outside Bangkok Bank (just in case any of you are thinking of doing some exercise – Lucy). It took around 45 minutes to get from KL to the Caves, which we would have missed if the driver didn’t give us a shout! You wouldn’t believe how close the caves were to the main motorway interchange!

I was really excited about seeing the monkey guards, but when we got to the first few steps we couldn’t see any 🙁
However about halfway up, on the 136th step, (of course Lee counted every step as we climbed up! – Lucy), we started to see the monkeys come out to play… it was amazing!
We were lucky that we didn’t have any food on us, unlike one poor couple who got attacked by a hungry monkey. The bloke didn’t really do himself any favours when he tried to kick the monkey, as a whole gang came out with flick-knives! (just kidding)
Although the monkey did hiss at the man and looked like he was going for the kill!

Lucy took hundreds of photographs of the monkeys, there are some great shots in there, she’s definitely got a new replacement for sunsets!

Inside the cave is fantastic, we certainly got a lot more than we expected! Lucy was loving all the stalagmites & stalactites. (The Batu Caves put Cheddar’s Cave to shame! – Lucy)

After the caves we got some ice-cream and had a chat with Ryan, who’s just started his 4th year-long adventure!
We eventually figured out where to get the bus back to KL City, although another important life lesson is to always carry small coinage as the bus conductor didn’t have any change and he wouldn’t except the Rm10 (Â£2) note.

In the evening we went back to the Malay/Chinese Food Court, tried various types of Satay (well chicken & beef)… very tasty.

Then came the interesting bit…
Walking through the market stalls in Chinatown, we almost got ran over by a trolley packed with VCDs, then we looked ahead and noticed a convoy of VCD/DVD trolleys heading our way… yikes! It seems there was a police raid on all the piracy stalls… a crackdown! – it was like an episode of The Bill! all units go Go GO!

We ended the night with a beer on the roof of our hostel, chatting some more with Ryan, getting ideas about things to do in Australia, (two of Ryan’s trips were in Oz). It sounds like there are loads of exciting opportunities out there!

We’re off the the Cameron Highlands today at 15:30 to enjoy some refreshing cool weather… we’ll need it after the 4 hour bus trip there! 😉